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aaeron 's review for:
Murder on the Orient Express
by Agatha Christie
I would have given the book 2.5 stars, but since that's not possible I'm giving it the 'disadvantage' of the doubt, so to say.
All in all, the book was fine. It was interesting to try out a detective-style novel for once and I am glad that the one I got to try out was this one. I especially like the world-building, Christie's ability to paint a picture of what it's like to travel in an early 20th century train is amazing. The mood is set very nicely, and this mostly lasts throughout the book to set a consistent tone that ensures immersion in the story.
However, I could do without the racism and wonky and outdated psychology present in the book, also the ethnic essentialism was very uncomfortable to read through. I'll chalk this up to the times though, a quirk of a mostly bygone era.
Regarding the actual course of the story, I liked it most in the beginning, I guess right up to and including the murder of Ratchett. The entire mid-section of the book, the interviews and the like, was fine. It was interesting seeing such a wide range of personalities, and it was interesting from a historical point of view to hear about what life was like for these people in that time and place. However, the third part of the book was pretty meh in my opinion, the way in which all the stories tied together really wasn't satisfactory to me, and the actual final conclusion to me felt like a major cop out. I also don't really know what to think of the last page of the book, I understand the common hate of child murderers, but I guess now we have to be fine with vigilantism, and we have to assume that a highly accredited detective would gladly participate in the cover up of a murder? I guess it's my fault for creating a mental image of Poirot as someone who wouldn't do that throughout the book.
But so yeah, this genre isn't really for me, but I'm glad to be able to say that now that I've actually tried out one of these books. It was nice to read something different for a change, I'm glad it was this book since I did really like the first part of the book, but I probably won't dip my toes in this and similar genres anytime soon.
All in all, the book was fine. It was interesting to try out a detective-style novel for once and I am glad that the one I got to try out was this one. I especially like the world-building, Christie's ability to paint a picture of what it's like to travel in an early 20th century train is amazing. The mood is set very nicely, and this mostly lasts throughout the book to set a consistent tone that ensures immersion in the story.
However, I could do without the racism and wonky and outdated psychology present in the book, also the ethnic essentialism was very uncomfortable to read through. I'll chalk this up to the times though, a quirk of a mostly bygone era.
Regarding the actual course of the story, I liked it most in the beginning, I guess right up to and including the murder of Ratchett. The entire mid-section of the book, the interviews and the like, was fine. It was interesting seeing such a wide range of personalities, and it was interesting from a historical point of view to hear about what life was like for these people in that time and place. However, the third part of the book was pretty meh in my opinion, the way in which all the stories tied together really wasn't satisfactory to me, and the actual final conclusion to me felt like a major cop out. I also don't really know what to think of the last page of the book, I understand the common hate of child murderers, but I guess now we have to be fine with vigilantism, and we have to assume that a highly accredited detective would gladly participate in the cover up of a murder? I guess it's my fault for creating a mental image of Poirot as someone who wouldn't do that throughout the book.
But so yeah, this genre isn't really for me, but I'm glad to be able to say that now that I've actually tried out one of these books. It was nice to read something different for a change, I'm glad it was this book since I did really like the first part of the book, but I probably won't dip my toes in this and similar genres anytime soon.